So THIS is love?
by o0whitelily0o
Summary: An actually incharacter ZATR. Zim gets a shock when Tak shows up at his door and offers to be his henchman. Secretly, though, she plans on taking over his mission from the inside. But what happens when she realizes there is more to him then meets the eye?
1. Chapter 1

_You know how people are always writing fanfictions where Zim ends up falling in love with Dib/Gaz/Tak/insert OC here, but they always ends up being completely out of character? I know I do. Now, most people are able to let it go for the joy of fluff, but not me. Nope. This is a fanfiction about ZATR, and I'm going to do my job as a writer to keep them both in character! _

_This chapter is supposed to be short, just getting down the setting._

_Perhaps I'll end up scrapping the project later if it proves too hard, but until then, enjoy._

"My Tallest, wait'll you see my next plan for destroying the _humans._ It's brilliant!" Zim rambled excitedly into the transmitter.

"Ah, Zim? We're kinda busy today with…ah…" Tallest Purple said, trying desperately to figure out _someway_ to get this annoyance to go away.

"Our snack inspections!" Tallest Red leapt to the rescue.

"But I haven't told you about my plan yet! You see, I'm going to focus their sun's powers, and make all their plants-"

"Look, Zim. The snack inspection is very important. Why don't you call back later?"

"But-"

"Glad you see it our way. Bye!" And with that, they hung up.

Zim stared at the screen in momentary disbelief, then turned to the elevator. Couldn't the Tallest see that this plan was pure genius? Didn't they want to watch as he destroyed the humans? Well, the snack inspection _did_ sound pretty important. Maybe he should wait until they were done to unleash his plan.

**WARNING. Intruder at the door.**

"Eh? Oh, alright. Computer, take me to the kitchen." The elevator doors opened, bringing Zim up the toilet passage. Climbing out, he saw GIR and Minimoose were watching…**that** show.

"That monkey…" Zim muttered as he glanced briefly at the screen as he headed towards the door. Upon opening, his jaw dropped in shock.

"TAK?"


	2. Chapter 2

"TAK?"

Indeed it was. At his door, there stood Tak, though in her human disguise. Mimi, her SIR robot, stood right next to her in cat disguise.

"Yes, Zim, it is-" She began, with a slightly cynical grin.

"TAK?" He cried again.

Blinking once, she tried again, "Yes, Zim, it is-"

"TAK?"

Trying again, struggle clearly noticeable in her tone, "Yes, Zim, it is-"

"TAK?"

"YES! I'm Tak!" She shouted, completely exasperated.

"Oh." Pause. "GIR! Minimoose! Defensive mode!"

Looking up from the show, GIR squealed and leapt through the nearest window. Minimoose paused, looking from Tak to the window, then back at Tak, then the window, and back to Tak again…and promptly leapt out the window.

After a moment of silence, Tak cleared her throat. "Right. So, after miraculously surviving being thrown through space in a tiny pod, I have come to realize that you are truly the greatest Irken Invader ever."

"Yes. Yes, I am." Zim glowed in her praise, then blinked once and looked suspicious. "But the first time you came here, you were after revenge for me causing your horrible life."

"IT WASN'T ABOUT REVENGE!" Tak cried, before regaining her composure. "I mean- that fight proved yourself to me. You deserve your mission." Grinning broadly, with a twitching eye that Zim didn't notice. "So I decided that instead of fighting against you and wasting your valuable invading time, I decided to become your henchman." Her grin broadened even more, which Zim took for sincerity, but most others would find disturbing.

"Hm…well, you are a good Invader. But not good like me, of course." At which Tak's eye twitched unnoticed again. "You will make a valuable servant." Zim nodded to himself. "Alright then."

Tak's eyes narrowed and she began to cackle. "Excellent…" More cackling. "Excellent!"

Feeling vaguely uncomfortably with the evil cackle, Zim started to laugh as well. "Ha…Ha ha ha…ha ha ha ha…HA HA HA HA HA!"

After a while, Tak stopped, staring as Zim continued to laugh.

And laugh.

And laugh…

_A/N: Please bare with me, folks. It's my first Invader Zim fanfiction, so I'm not as…comfortable (not the right word, but close enough) with the characters as I am with ones I've used a lot._


	3. Chapter 3

As Dib took his seat in class, he couldn't help but wonder why the heck he was even going to skool. He had better things to do then sit around and listen to Ms. Bitters tell them all that they were doomed because of something or other. Such as figuring out how to prove Zim's an alien to his blind-as-a-bat fellow humans.

Jerking up in his seat, he realized that Zim wasn't even here yet. Usually it was himself that was late. Just as he was to point this out to his teacher, the class door burst open and a very mangled Zim entered, followed by…

"Tak?" He exclaimed, and said Tak turned towards him with a glare in her eyes.

"I am NOT going through that again." She growled.

"Tak, you are several weeks late to class." Ms. Bitters hissed at the disguised-Irken. "I want you to rewrite 'War and Peace' in your own words for your punishment."

Tak glared and said, "No you don't," that weird light flashing from her right eye to her left.

Ms. Bitters simply narrowed her eyes and said, "Yes. I do. And now your desk is being used by yet another hopelessly dimwitted transfer student." Tak, Dib, and Zim all glanced towards said desk (not having noticed this student before) and suddenly found themselves looking at a beautiful, blonde girl, with the most alluring blue eyes, and excellent taste clothes. Suddenly, the gorgeous girl dropped into a bottomless abyss that opened up beneath her chair. "Well, there Marisu goes to the underground classrooms. Tak, take your seat."

"Um, right." Tak murmured, eyeing the chair a little suspiciously, but nevertheless took her seat.

Zim was shaking from the memory of that horrible adventure that he had undergone on the way to skool as he took his own seat. It had all started with Tak offering to drive on the way to the skool…

"_Come on, Zim. I'm your henchman now. You shouldn't have to do something as tedious as drive the ship since I'm here to do it for you." She had said, with that grin of hers. I never should have let her. No wonder she needed to build her own ship, she could barely fly mine straight! It's a good thing the ship was in stealth mode, or the whole city would have seen us! Last time I let her drive…_ He thought, grumbling inaudibly.

Tak was smiling to herself as she remembered that wonderful time she had crashing Zim's ship. The best part was when she drove the side he was in right into that broken glass factory. With a sigh, though, she figured that he wasn't about to let her drive again. Even Zim wasn't _that_ stupid. Still, it had been fun while it lasted.

By lunch, all the students had learned that they were all simply dust in the wind, and went to the cafeteria feeling very depressed. That is, all the students except for Tak (who had been busy reliving the ride to skool), Zim (who was doing the same, only in a more bitter tone), Dib (who was wondering what the heck Tak was doing back on Earth), and Old Kid (who had forgotten his arthritis medication and had been focusing on the screaming agony in his hands).

Dib stared from across the cafeteria as Zim and Tak sat at the same table. "Why is Tak here? Didn't Zim get rid of her weeks ago? And why are they sitting together? They hate each other! THIS MAKES NO SENSE!" He lamented to himself, out loud, again.

Gaz, who was about to sit down, started to back away. _Very_ slowly. The only thing that kept her from sitting somewhere else were her father's words, that still rang in her ears.

_He's your brother, crazy or not. If you don't sit next to him at lunch, then I'll take away your video games. All of them._

Muttering words that most girls her age wouldn't even think to use, she sat back down next to Dib, who was rambling on about Tak and Zim being aliens, and why they were teamed up.

Groaning, Gaz started eating.

This was going to be a _very_ long lunch period.

_A/N: Yes! Another chapter completed! I'm trying to do one a night (as no one else is up to disturb me this late). I hope you guys liked this one._


	4. Chapter 4

Skool finally let out for the day, after a long, disturbing lesson on the most efficient way to bury yourself. By the end of _that_ class, the students weren't bothering to climb out open windows. Nope, they simply leapt right through the glass, ignorant to the pain.

Zim didn't take such extravagant measures, as he was still sore from the flight in the Voot Cruiser. Tak cackled, and pretended to be ignorant to her horrible driving.

"Do you want me to drive us back?" She asked innocently enough, trying hard not to cackle.

"Ah, no!" Zim cried, leaping back as if bit.

"Are you sure? Because I think I can get the controls better the second time."

"NO! You are NEVER to drive my ship again." He growled, at which Tak grinned inwardly. She should have tried this approach ages ago. So busy plotting how to hurt Zim next, she didn't notice the clouds darkening, and the distant sound of rumbling thunder.

"AH! Rain's coming! Tak, get back under here!" Zim cried, as the ignorant Irken continued to walk farther and farther away from the protective cement overhang. He himself had bought an 'umbrella' a while ago, and kept it in his pocket (which, unlike the human's primitive pockets, was able to carry things far larger then most would think would fit). It had never rained while Tak had last visited Earth; she knew nothing about its deadliness.

"What's the matter, Zim? Afraid of a little water?" Dib taunted from the doorway.

Zim turned, brandishing his umbrella defiantly. "Foolish human! I have figured out how to use this pathetic piece human technology against your filthy rain!" Looking back at Tak, he tried again. "TAK! Get back here! I command it!"

Tak pretended not to hear. What in the name of Irk would an idiot like Zim know about Earth that she didn't? With a smug smile, she continued down the sidewalk.

Zim looked nervously up at the sky. Cautiously, he started walking out from the protective overhang. No sooner had he taken a step, the clouds burst, and rain began to fall. With a cry, Zim fumbled his umbrella, trying to figure out how to open it. He wasn't paying attention to where he was swinging it as he struggled with it, so when that annoying Zita girl cried out in pain, it could be because he stabbed her in the eye with it.

At last it opened, and he clung to it desperately. After a few seconds, and there was no screaming pain on his skin, he figured that the umbrella was working. Tak, on the other hand, was completely vulnerable.

"Hm?" She looked up at the rain in confusion. What was this? She'd never seen anything like- "Ah!" What happen- "Ow!" It hurt! The rain was burning her, the hologram not offering any protection. "Ouch! Ah!" Looking around desperately for cover from this horrid water, she could only see a tree. Lunging for it, and missing it by several feet, she struggled get up, to get to that safe patch of dry…

"Eh?" Suddenly, the downpour above her stopped. Glancing up, she found it was Zim, standing next to her with some kind of Earth object that blocked that rain.

"Come on, get up." He said testily, as if he himself had not done something very similar a few days after he arrived on Earth. "It's only an inferior Earth fluid."

She stood up, puzzled by Zim's sudden act of kindness. As if reading her mind, he said, "I expect all my henchmen able to work at all times. I don't want to have to spend any extra time taking care of you."

With narrowed eyes, Tak mumbled suspicious thanks, and refused to look at Zim the whole time they walked back to the ship.

Meanwhile…

"Hey Gaz, why do you think Tak's back? And how'd she get here? And why she's hanging out with Zim?" Dib asked as he and his sister walked towards their house.

"Dib, Dad said that I had to walk with you. He didn't say I had to talk to you." She glared, trying to play her GS 2 with one hand, holding her umbrella with the other. He had been talking about the exact same thing at lunch, and quite honestly the topic bored her.

"This calls for some spying! Tonight, I'll sneak into his base and plant a camera so I can figure out what their up to! Maybe I can get one of his robots to help…"

"Didn't you already try that?" She asked, not looking up from her game.

"Well, yes…but you know what they say, third time's the charm!" He replied, refusing to be daunted. No matter what, he was going to get to the bottom of this, and now that there were two aliens, he'd have twice as easy a time getting proof!

_A/N: Nothing to say today, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's been getting easier to write, but I can't tell if that means I'm getting used to the characters, or I'm just getting lazy. Let me know if I'm getting out of character._


	5. Chapter 5

Zim came down from the landing platform under the roof with Tak. She looked less than thrilled to have been in need of help from Zim, but he, of course, didn't notice. GIR poked his head out of the kitchen, squealing.

"Master's home! With the scary lady!" Mimi and Minimoose also came out, all covered with some kind of batter.

"Yes, yes, nice to see you too, GIR." Zim said, putting the umbrella back into his pocket.

"Guess what I made!" The robot said, grinning.

Zim motioned to Tak to leave. "You really don't want to be here to find out." He whispered, but it was too late.

"PIE!" He cried, emerging with a huge stack of horribly disfigured pies. Well, he had been working all day on them. "With shampoo and tomatoes in 'em!"

"NO! Zim needs no pie!" Tak stared as the two began a typical banter. Were they _always_ like this? No wonder Zim never got anything done! Suddenly, GIR let out a piercing wail of rejection.

"Just shut up! I'll have one, if you just SHUT UP." Tak cried, unable to bear that horrible wail. Zim appeared to be immune to it.

Both Irkens looked at the horrible manifestation of pastry that the robot had made. Not nearly as nervous as Zim, never having experienced GIR's cooking before, Tak took a big bite. Zim looked anxiously at her, preparing to run for the Jaws of Life.

"Huh, this isn't so bad." Tak said around the food in her mouth. "Tastes a little like deep-fried mooshminky."

"Eh?" "YAY!" Zim and GIR exclaimed at the same time. Tak continued to munch on the pie, wondering what the big deal was about.

"Give me on of those!" Zim said, swiping one of the pies from GIR's hands. Of course, this caused the rest to fall upon poor Mimi, but Zim didn't really care. Eyeing the pie suspiciously, he forked a large piece into his mouth. Waiting for horrible disgust to overwhelm him, he blinked as he found himself rather enjoying it. "Y-you're right. GIR, what is in this?"

"That's a secret!" The robot smiled. While Zim and GIR started fighting, Tak walked sloooowly away, to see what Zim had in his lab for her to sabotage. Of course, a pathetic invader such as him probably didn't even _have_ a lab, other then a transmitter and maybe a ray or two.

She was very surprised to see all the things he had, especially the human with the Happiness Probe in his head. Zim must have made that himself, she mused, as she had never seen anything like it.

"Perhaps he's more of an Invader then I thought. He certainly has the whole 'experimenting on the filthy inhabitants' down." Though in all honesty, he should be spending less time experimenting and more time figuring out a way to destroy the planet.

"Meeh!" A squeaky voice said from behind her. She jumped slightly, turning around to face the odd floating robot moose she hadn't seen the first time that she came to Earth.

"Oh! Uh, Minimoose. I was just…uh-" Tak said, looking around for an explanation. Minimoose simply floated, looking very upset at Tak. With a sigh, the Irken said, "Look, don't tell Zim I was down here, alright?"

"Meeh…" The robot moose said doubtfully.

"Please? I wasn't going to do anything, but I don't think that Zim trusts me quite enough to take it well." Tak pleaded, knowing that if the moose let it out that she'd been down to the lab, her whole mission would be jeopardized.

After a few moments of silence, the robot nodded, agreeing with an understanding, "Meeh."

Holding back a sigh of relief, Tak followed the little robot back upstairs, where Zim and GIR were still arguing over what made the pie edible. Putting her head in her hands, Tak groaned. Praying that this didn't happen every day, she didn't even notice as Dib crept in, silently placing a miniature camera on the picture of the green monkey.

But if she had noticed, she would have told him that nothing worth recording was going to happen anytime soon.

_A/N: I've been plotting out ways for Tak to realize just how much she and Zim have in common, but it'll probably be one of those things that just as she figures something out, Zim does something stupid that cancels out however if made her feel. Those things always make me so frustrated!_


	6. Chapter 6

"Tak, hand me that thingy over there." Zim said, as he began experimenting on the weasel-squid he had been perfecting over the past few weeks (apparently for some kind of plan to destroy the humans, but he hadn't embellished).

"The shocker-thingy" Tak said, looking through Zim's toolbox, which contained an odd array of tools (both Irken and non-Irken) and fun objects to poke things with.

"No, the thingy that looks like a Retnab's tail!" He said, impatiently. Tak looked confused, not having seen said tool.

"I don't think it's in here." She said, shaking her head. "Maybe you put it somewhere else?"

"WHAT? Not in there?" He grabbed the toolbox away from Tak. "That's impossible! I always put in here, right next to the Bunzor screwdrivers!"

"Well, it's not here now." As Zim continued to look through the toolbox, Tak innocently poked the weasel-squid with the shocker-thingy.

"SQUEEEEEEAAAAARGH!" It cried in pain, terror, and overall uncomfortable-ness. Then it imploded.

"AHA! Here it is! I told you it was in here. I'M A GENIUS!" Zim said, holding the Retnab tail-thingy above his head in triumph. "Hey, what happened to the weasel-squid?"

"It imploded." She shrugged.

"I knew it!" Zim cried.

"You did?"

"Yes. Yes I did." Zim looked at the area on the slab where the weasel-squid used to be. "Well, that's enough experimenting for now. Computer! Take us up."

As they rode the transporter up to ground level, Zim had to admit that these last couple of experiments had been going rather quickly now that Tak was here to help. Although, most of the subjects had either exploded, imploded, ran away, disintegrated or just plain died. Still, he never thought to blame Tak for the bad ending to the experiments. She had been a great help, far better then GIR, and even Minimoose.

Tak, on the other hand, had been having the time of her life these past few days. She would never have imagined how much fun it was to make things explode, implode, or disintegrate. Of course, a few ran away or died without her help, but the ones she was responsible for made her smile on the inside. Part of the fun was knowing that she had hindering Zim's mission, but most was just the fun of destroying things.

"Tak? Hello?" Zim said, waving his hand in front of Tak's face. She seemed to not notice that they arrived on the ground floor. She was just…staring off into space and smiling. It was very disturbing. Even for Zim. "Ta-ak? You there?" Still she didn't respond, so Zim did the only other thing he could think of.

He turned on the TV.

Instantly, Tak blinked back to the present, and found herself staring at…a horrible monkey. "AAAGH! What in the name of Irk is that thing?" She screeched, lunging backwards, and unknowingly knocking the mini-camera off the green monkey portrait, sending down into the void behind the sofa (where Dib ended up getting some pretty neat footage, but that's another story).

"You mean GIR never showed you the Scary Monkey Show?" Zim couldn't help but be amazed at Tak's reaction. She was normally so calm all the time.

"No! For Irk's sake, turn it off!" She yelled, trying to grab the remote from Zim, who tauntingly held it out of reach. Even though she was slightly taller then him, she couldn't manage to grab it. He had an odd way of stretching his arm _just_ out of the way so she couldn't get it. And every time she glimpsed at the television…there was that monkey…staring…

They struggled for a couple of minutes, but eventually Tak overpowered Zim with her ever-so-slightly greater height.

"Aha! Got it!" Tak cried, waving the remote above her head triumphantly. She didn't even realize that Zim had done an incredibly similar thing when they had been in the lab.

"Yeah, fine." Zim said, looking kinda pouty at his fun being ruined.

Turning off the TV with a sigh of relief, Tak sat back onto the couch. "Say, where's GIR, Minimoose, and Mimi?" She asked, noticing their absence.

"Uhnuh?" Zim said, hoping it counted as an answer.

Meanwhile, at a rave in an abandoned warehouse… 

"Go GIR, go GIR, go GIR!" The crowd chanted as GIR (in his doggy disguise) performed a flawless breakdance. Girls swooned when he looked at them, boys cheered and whistled when he did a new move, and the DJ dedicated every song to 'the little green master of the dance floor!'

Minimoose floated by the punchbowl with Mimi, who was in her robot form. No one seemed to notice anyway.

"Meeh?" Minimoose squeaked at Mimi, who shook her head and drank some punch.

_A/N: I completely made up Rutnabs and Bunzors, for the sake of the story. If you or someone you know has them in their story, I didn't copy them. Really. I promise._


	7. Chapter 7

It was late at night, and neither Zim nor Tak had anything to do. All the TV shows were lame reruns of bad sitcoms, the radio produced only static, and all the robots had gone into sleep mode. Often when these things happened, Zim would go down to the lab and work on his experiments. But now that Tak was around to help, all of his work for the day was done.

Irkens very rarely slept, as they had no need for it, their PAKs being able to stimulate their bodies 24/7. The only reason for sleeping was if the Irken had undergone something so exhausting that their body was unable to process the PAK's stimulators. Although, some Irkens took sleep as a form of recreation, Zim was not among them. He found sleeping to prove weakness, and perhaps had only slept once or twice himself (Tak felt much the same way, though perhaps not so strongly).

There was truly nothing for either him or Tak to do.

So they talked.

"Okay, you go first." Zim said to Tak, feeling a little uncomfortable. This was probably the first time he'd ever had a real conversation with the Irken, even though she'd been staying for about a week.

"Well, what should I say?" She responded, feeling even more uncomfortable. She was supposed to be taking over his mission, not chatting with him at the kitchen table.

"I don't know, anything. How about your time at the Irken Military Academy?" He suggested, trying to pick something that he'd be able to talk back about.

"Well, it wasn't all that great. I always wanted to be an Invader, but none of the other Irkens- students, trainers, anyone- ever took me seriously." She said, a little angrily.

"Really?" Zim blinked. Tak had been one of the most impressive Invaders he'd seen. "But you're so good-"

She cuts him off with a nod. "Yes, I know. The only reason I'm as good as I am is because I was determined to be better then all the others. I had to be twice as clever, twice as strong, to prove to anyone that I was Invader material."

"Why? Why didn't any of them take you seriously?" He couldn't help but ask. It made no sense to him at all. But Tak just shook her head, refusing to answer.

"Alright Zim, you're turn. Tell me about your time at the Irken Military Academy." Tak insists, and Zim figures that he might as well tell her about it. He had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Well, honestly I didn't spend much time there. For a few years I worked in Vort Research Station 9, helping develop better ships and weaponry. I even helped work on the Massive's design. But that was all boring, so I spent my spare thing creating an infinite energy absorbing thingy. It was chubby." He appeared to be reminiscing about the infinite energy absorbing thingy. "I miss that little guy."

"Wait a sec…wasn't is an infinite energy absorbing thingy that devoured Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork?" Tak asked, feeling rather astonished that Zim was able to create something like that.

"Uh…yeah…but it wasn't mine, really!" Zim said, looking anywhere but at Tak.

"You said that you only spent a few years there. Where did you go later?" She asked, getting caught up in his past. It was much more interesting then she had thought.

"Right. Well, after Tallest Miyuki was eaten by the NOT MINE infinite energy absorbing thingy, they sent me to military training on Devastis. I was even in the same class as the now-Tallest Red and Purple. When it came time for Operation Impending Doom I, I knew that my people would need my superior Invading skills." Zim looked quite pleased with himself as he proceeded tell how well he managed to destroy things.

"But you never even left Irk." Tak pointed out, to which Zim simply dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"What does it matter where I was as long as I destroyed things?" He asked, to which Tak could simply stare blankly at him.

"Zim-" She began, with an angry tone, but then GIR leaped in.

"GOOD MORNING!" He cried, and Tak looked out the window, noticing that the sun had come up already. Wow, they had spent the whole night talking. It had been so easy too.

_No! You are here to take over Zim's mission! NOT become his friend!_ Tak thought angrily to herself, was shocked to feel a pang as she thought it.

It took a little while to realize that it was a pang of regret.

_A/N: I really had to do my research for Zim's past, so none of you can say I made anything up. Tak's really hard to keep in character, especially because I only have one episode to work from, but I think it's coming along well. The fanfic will probably end up being around 12 chapters long, maybe a little more, at this rate. _


	8. Chapter 8

Tak was in class, suffering a blaring headache that had been getting worse for hours. It was worst on the left side, and she knew exactly what the cause was. That dratted thing…she cursed the day it was installed. Still, she couldn't get out of class to go to the nurse. The source would never be discovered as long as she had her hologram up. Besides, the day was already over. She might as well wait it out.

As the bell rang, as she and Zim were leaving, she couldn't help but feel increasingly irritated by him. He didn't even notice that she was in pain (albeit, she was doing the best to hide it, but still). All he was doing was blathering on about the Dib and how inferior he was.

That stupid implant…it was the whole reason for no one taking her seriously. She'd needed it ever since she was a smeet. Unconsciously, her hand went to where the tube would be if her hologram weren't up. Still Zim didn't notice, and she was starting to get angry with him. Didn't he care?

_HOLD THE PHONE_, she thought. Why the heck did she care if he cared? The only reason she was here at all was to _take his mission_. She had to focus, or she might miss the opportune moment.

In the end, she didn't mention the pain in her head to Zim at all. She didn't need to, because she didn't need his help at all! No, she didn't need anyone!

Looking through her things for her pain suppressants, she was alarmed to discover that they were missing! What could have happened to them?

Earlier in the week… 

"Oooooh, these things look just like lil' beansies!" GIR exclaimed, popping open a small container of purple tablets. Tossing them, container and all, into his mouth, he yawned, and was knocked out for a couple of minutes.

The present… 

The pain would go away on it's own, like it always did when she ran out of the medication. Still, it was distracting, and she probably wouldn't be able to do very much work. She should tell Zim that she needed to rest today.

"Stupid thing," She muttered, rubbing the area around the hole the implant was in.

"Was GIR bothering you again?" Zim asked, looking up from the blueprints of his latest evil plan.

"Oh, no, nothing like that." Tak shook her head, sighing a little. "Say, you don't mind if I take the rest of the day easy, do you?"

Zim looked startled, then suspicious (or possibly concerned?). "Why? I don't think you've ever had a problem before. Is something wrong?"

"Well…" She debated telling him her problem, but in the end, she shook her head. "No, never mind. I'm fine." She hated admitting to her problem. Still, she couldn't help but feel irritated when he immediately took her word for it and began discussing his blueprints with her.

The plan involved yet another giant laser, a few cyborg gophers (which he had finally perfected), and at least one moose. Tak couldn't focus on it, and made a few noncommittal noises whenever he asked her a question.

Oh…her head hurt so much…she had forgotten how bad it could get. Now she remembered why she had to take those pain suppressants every year. Although her PAK would suppress it on it's own, the tablets were able to cover for it on the one day it didn't. The PAK's suppressants worked for approximately a year, but then it needed a day to recharge.

She was trying to listen to Zim, and focus on the pain in her head at the same time, when all of a sudden he decided to head down to the lab to work on those cyborg gophers. Getting up to follow him, she felt very dizzy all of a sudden. Her legs felt weak, and she toppled over.

She blacked out as she fell, and didn't see Zim's look of alarm as she hit on of the chairs, didn't see him run over to see what was wrong, didn't hear as he called for the computer to bring them to the lab to figure out the problem.

Didn't feel him as he carried her the whole way.

A/N: If I ever wrote a chapter that made Tak OOC, it was this one. Still, I've always wondered what that thing on her head was (if it's ever mentioned, I never heard it). For the story's sake, I decided to make it a robotic-implant, but you'll hear the rest of that next chapter. However, I think I did Zim pretty well. And if any of you think he's out of character, re-watch Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain. 


	9. Chapter 9

Tak woke up blearily. The pain in her head was gone, except for a dull throb. She looked around, and as soon as she realized she was in Zim's lab, she bolted upright. The sudden movement made her dizzy, and someone pushed her back down.

"Rest, I don't want to have to spend another day down here if you get hurt again." It was Zim, and he sounded very annoyed.

"How long have I been out?" She asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

"About twelve hours. Now, why don't you tell me what's going on." He was not happy. Not one little bit.

Tak sighed, and figured she might as well 'fess up. There was no avoiding it now. "Alright, I'll tell you." She sat up slowly, trying to get into a more comfortable position. He had put her on some kind of padded version of where he put his experiments when he worked on them.

"Do you know about Cranaritis?" She asked, but he shook his head. "I'm not surprised. It's a very rare genetic disorder. It requires the DNA of a male who has it, and a female carrier, for a female to show the symptoms. Since almost all Irkens are born in hatcheries with random sets of DNA, very few ever get it.

"What happens is that the Irkens' brain isn't compatible to the PAK's programming. This keeps the Irken from functioning, except for the most basic needs. The only way to fix it is one of these," She pointed to the tube in her head. "It's a robotic implant that reformats any of their thoughts so that they are compatible to their PAK. There are maybe four other Irkens alive now with the same disease as me."

Zim looked a little confused. "But that doesn't explain why you fainted."

Tak looked a little embarrassed at that. "Well, you see, the implant is painful, as it has to be hooked up to the brain, but the PAK is able to suppress it for most of the time. Once a year, though, it has to recharge, so I have to take a special anesthetic. For some reason though, all of mine were gone, so I didn't have anything to keep the pain down. I guess it was too much, and I passed out."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have ordered you some more, instead of spending the whole day trying to figure out what was wrong with you." Zim was very upset, and glared down at her.

Tak's temper started to flare. "Geez, I'm sorry. Forgive me if I don't want to tell everyone I meet about my weaknesses."

"I don't have to listen to this. You go back to sleep, and I'll check on you again in a few hours." He said, storming off, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

She fumed silently, lying back down, thinking, '_That Zim…he's so infuriating!'_

"HI SCARY LADY!" GIR cried, jumping onto her cot/bed/slab thing.

Sighing, she said, "Hello GIR."

"Aww, whassa matter, scary lady?" He asked, cocking his head a little.

"Nothing…" She muttered, closing her eyes and trying to sleep, despite her anger at Zim.

"You upset 'cause Master won't play with you either?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I kept tryin' to get him to play with me, but he just spent all day down here."

Tak opened her eyes, and looked at GIR, trying to understand what he was saying.

"He wouldn't even let me down here! And I left mah piggy here!" He started to cry, "WHY MY PIGGY? WHY?"

"GIR! Get away from there!" Zim's voice cried from across the lab.

"But…mah piggy…" GIR sniffed.

"I have it over here, now get away from her! I can't afford to waste another day taking care of her if you mess something up!" GIR squealed, and ran out of Tak's line of sight.

Even though she convinced herself that she was still angry with Zim, after she fell asleep, there was a most peculiar sort of frown on her face. If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was a smile.

_A/N: Props to my science teacher, who taught me about genetics, without which Tak's genetic disorder would never have been possible. It was REALLY hard to come up with, by the way, so you guys better appreciate it._


	10. Expositions

_I'm sorry to all of y'all who thought you'd get a real chapter today, but I wanted to get something down that I feel is important to the story, but I'm probably never going to get it worked in. They are my opinions on how Irkens feel affection, and how they differ from humans. Also, how they have family units and all those things. Since I'd be making Tak or Zim out of character if I had them talk about it, I decided it would be best making a mini-chapter explaining them. Well… here goes:_

The way Irkens love is very different from humans.

The way humans love can best be described as dynamic. When they fall in love, it is powerful and often a beautiful thing. They can love someone for their appearance, their mind, anything. They have many different kinds of love, but the one that seems to stand out is the kind between two people who want to spend their lives together. Sometimes, this sort of love vanishes suddenly, like fireworks that light up the sky before fading away. Sometimes it goes away gradually. Sometimes it is there forever. Sometimes it changes into a different kind of love. Since humans are all confined to one planet, they are easily able to meet others that they may fall in love with.

Irkens, on the other hand, have much more mellowed feelings of affection. If they fall in love, it is generally not because of the other's appearance (although height is thought to be more attractive). Their love is based on trust, and comradeship (and occasionally possessiveness). Since Irkens are a highly militaristic race, they dedicate a good deal of their lives to their work, often on different planets. They very rarely have the time to get to know and trust another the way that allows them to love each other. Once gained, however, it cannot be shaken, unless horribly betrayed. Even though their PAKs do not allow them to feel the same fiery passion that humans do, they _can_ love, in their own, trusting way. There are other types of affection, like the protective (if reluctant) way that Zim cares for GIR, but the closest they get to human love is the feeling that they can trust the other with their life.

On families:

Since Irkens hardly ever have the time to fall in love, they likewise rarely build families. Irkens have no sexual organs (as far as we know), so they cannot mate, and since they do not love each other for appearance, they feel no lust (at least, not in the way humans do). The only way for them to have a child, is to get a private incubator, like the ones they have in the Smeet Hatcheries on Irk. There, the DNA is chosen at random from every Irken alive (and perhaps even several who are not), but private ones need DNA to be submitted from one male and female. Once the smeet is hatched several months after the DNA is inputted, the way the parents react to the child vary. Since very few families such as these happen, it is impossible to give an average to how they treat their children, so all I can say is that they are somewhat like humans in that aspect. Whether they are controlling, uncaring, encouraging, or even abusive, it all depends on the Irken parents' personalities.

_That's all I have to say on Irkens and their personal lives. Again, sorry for everyone who wanted a real chapter, but I felt a need to get these explained. These are only my opinions, and whether they are facts or not will never be known Only Jhonen knows, and I doubt he'll ever read my fanfiction and tell me._

_Also, I'll be on vacation from Friday to the next, so I'll try and get a few more chapters in before then. I'm trying to wrap the series up with the next few chapters, so I can work on my other unfinished fanfics. It'll be hard to end this one, since it might even be the first story I've ever completed._


	11. Chapter 10

It had started out as a normal enough day. Zim and Tak were enjoying some Irken Lickin' Stix while watching their favorite movie (Aliens), which was quite satisfying, even though the human managed to escape.

Then the giant, fat, _thing_ burst through the ceiling.

"AHA! I found you again!" The thing shouted at Zim, before grabbing him and shooting up through the ceiling.

Tak blinked a few times, but then shrugged and went right back to watching the movie.

_Meanwhile…_

"You were a fool to return to the same place as before! You should have known that I would track you down as soon as the Foodening was over!" The thing, known to Zim and all of Foodcourtia as Sizz-Lorr, bellowed down upon him.

"Fool! I will escape again from you! Did you not learn your lesson last time you kidnapped me?" Zim shouted, boastful…successfully hiding his nervousness. Foodcourtia was the one place in the universe he hated more then Earth, and Sizz-Lorr was the only being he hated more then the Dib.

"That's what you think, but I have upgraded the security around Shloogorghs." Sizz-Lorr removed his goggles and glared down at Zim. "I don't think that we'll be having anymore escapes." And then he grinned, throwing Zim into a cage. Zim recognized it from last time, as there was a dent in one of the bars that had been made when Sizz-Lorr had thrown him in last time.

But then Zim grinned, because what Sizz-Lorr didn't know was that now he had an actually _competent _sidekick. Surely, Tak would be able to come and get him.

The transmitter emerged from his PAK, and disregarding what Sizz-Lorr had done to him the last time he tried to send a transmission.

Tak's face appeared, and Zim was somewhat confused that she was nonchalantly drinking an Irken soda. He just shrugged it off, and started talking.

"Tak! Listen to me- I'm being kidnapped to Foodcourtia. Take the Voot Runner, get your ship back from Dib, anything! Just get me out of here!" He ordered, in hushed tones.

Tak stopped drinking and sighed. "Zim, I won't be coming to help you."

His eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed and hissed, "What was that?"

"You heard me."

"Why in the name of Irk not?" He demanded, as loud as he dared.

She looked at him, and shook her head. "Don't you get it? I was just trying to steal your mission from you Zim. Understand? I was never really helping you. And now that you're gone, I'll be able to destroy the Earth in peace." Tak grinned, and Zim finally realized that it was a sinister grin, not a sincere one. "Oh yes, one more thing." And with that, she screamed as loud as she could.

Sizz-Lorr re-emerged from the main room. "What was that?" He saw the transmitter. "AGAIN? You didn't learn your lesson last time?" Zim's antennae lowered, knowing exactly what was coming…

_**The following scene was deleted, for violence that was far above the rating of the fanfic. Sorry.**_

_On Earth…_

For the past few days, Tak had been busily preparing her Doomsday device for which to destroy the Earth. Or rather…she would have been, if she had been able to concentrate for more then a second. Every time she tried to focus, the eerie quietness of the house made her loose her train of thought. Even though GIR was still here, and Minimoose and Mimi, the house seemed so…empty without Zim.

"NO!" She said to herself. "Zim's the whole reason you're here in the first place! This is what you were waiting for all along! So quit thinking about how much you miss-" Breaking off suddenly, she started to think. Was it true? Did she miss Zim? No…that was stupid. Why would she miss that egotistical, sociopathic, dramatic, stupid, noisy…

But no matter how long she went on reciting Zim negative features, she still couldn't get him out of her mind. Thinking of him up there…in Foodcourtia…it reminded her of when she was on a Janitorial Squad on Planet Dirt.

At last, she just couldn't take it anymore. If _anyone_ was going to ruin Zim's life, it would be her! She was going to go and get Zim out of that place, and bring him back!

For a minute, she considered bringing along the robots, but _somebody _needed to watch the base.

"Mimi, Minimoose, you two are in charge. Make sure GIR doesn't break too many things." She warned, and she headed outside, activating her hologram. Mimi waved a reluctant farewell, and turned back to the madhouse that was their base.

Tak sighed, and trudged towards Dib's house. Although she could have easily piloted Zim's ship, she knew her own best, and felt that for a mission like this she'd need the very best of equipment.

_Later…_

Dib looked up from _Mysterious Mysteries _as the doorbell rang. Gaz wasn't here, and of course Dad wasn't here either. Well, it was a repeat. He might as well answer it.

"Coming," He called, as the doorbell was rung again and again. "I said I'm coming!"

When he finally opened it, he had to blink a few times to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Tak? What the heck are you doing here?" He asked, blinking in confusion.

When she answered, she was impatient and somewhat irritated. "I need my ship, Dib. Where is it?"

"It's in the garage. But it's kind of…confused." Dib answered, shaking his head. But Tak didn't listen after the word 'garage'. She just stormed into it, and was not very shocked when it tried to claw at her.

"All unauthorized intruders will be decapitated." It droned at her in her own voice. Then it shifted to a more Dib-like voice. "An alien! I must capture it and perform an autopsy!"

Tak simply sighed, and said, "Emergency Shutdown, activate." The ship shuddered and became still. "Give me ten minutes with this thing, I'll have it back to normal."

Dib simply stared as Tak perform feats of mechanical genius. When she was finished, she jumped in. "Thank you for your assistance, Dib. Now I must be off." Activating her ship's engines, Dib finally snapped out of his paralysis.

"Wait!" He shouted, leaping into the cockpit. Tak was stunned, and for a moment she did nothing. That moment was all it took for the ship to launch itself into space. She glared at Dib, who grinned in a somewhat triumphant, somewhat sheepish way.

"I don't like you."

_A/N: Well? Was it worth the wait? I hope so, as I wanted it to be extra-good for all of y'all patient enough to bear with me through my vacation._

_THANK YOU!_


	12. Chapter 11

Zim had passed out on the floor of Shloogorghs, after having to clean the entire place (including the bathrooms) all by himself for the past week as punishment for escaping last time.

"GET UP, SLACKER!" Sizz-Lorr shouted, and dumped a barrel of hot grease on Zim.

"AAGH! IT BURNS!" He shot up into the air, running in a frenzied circle. All the other customers laughed, and not for the first time Zim considered trying to break out again.

Unfortunately, the security features had been upgraded. Instead of being able to trick the scan by hiding in enough mass, these were able to perform x-ray scans, allowing no place to hide.

Zim panted, and at last the burning sensation dulled. For a second, it seemed like he was going to be allowed a short rest, but then Sizz-Lorr gave him…the toilet plunger.

"NO! Please! Anything but that!" The tiny Irken begged, praying that the Blob Monster hadn't been the last one in.

"Yes. Now go do your job!" Sizz-Lorr demanded, knowing full well that the Blob Monster had just come out. "Or else." He grinned, and held up a bucket of boiling oil. Zim looked at the oil, then the plunger, unable to decide which was worse. But finally, he picked the plunger, holding it carefully by the handle. He stared at the bathroom door like a condemned man would look at the electric chair.

Gulping, he walked inside, to be met with a horror too despicable for words.

Several hours later… 

Filth covered and completely spent, Zim hobbled over to a table (not noticing that everyone in the tables around moved away) and sat.

Though he had been trying his best to forget her, his exhausted mind not being able to go anywhere else but the Irken who had spent so much time with him. The _only _Irken who had bothered to actually have a conversation with him, and the only female Irken who had ever spent longer then five minutes with him.

Tak…did she mean it when she said she wasn't going to come and get me? He couldn't help but think. She had already shown that she was excellent with lying, especially when she was trying to hurt him. After all, she had lied about the Tallest and his mission. 

_But she had a reason that time. You had beaten her and she was angry. Why would she lie now? _A traitor part of his mind whispered. He just didn't want to think about that. It was so hard to believe that the same Irken who had worked by his side these past few months had been planning to betray him the entire time.

Meanwhile… 

"So…explain this to me again." Dib asked, not quite getting what was going on.

Tak sighed, and tried again. "When I came to Earth the second time, I was planning of working with Zim, but secretly destroying all of his inventions and experiments. I was going to take over his mission when the right time arrived. A few days ago, Zim was kidnapped by his former boss from the planet Foodcourtia."

"Which is…?"

"A planet conquered by the Irken race many years ago, and has been completely filled with fast food restaurants and snack stands."

"Okay, so why are you going?"

"To get Zim back."

"Why?" This was the point Dib just didn't get, no matter how hard he tried to understand. Tak would never answer when he asked, either. She would suddenly get very interested in the view and not listen to him.

Tak knew that Dib would never understand, he was only a child. How could she explain this feeling of possessiveness towards Zim? How she wanted no one else but herself to ever lay a hand on him. Even how surprisingly safe she felt around him, considering he was possibly criminally insane.

She didn't recognize the trust she felt as what it was, because she'd never felt this way before.

In a way, she didn't want to feel this way. It was too complicated.

So all she did was stare at the passing stars, childishly hoping that the answers to her feelings would be revealed if she stared long enough.

The stars gave no answers, for the answers were not out there, but in herself.

_A/N: Poor Zim, ah but how I love to mess with him. Well, I hope you guys are looking forward to the ending, which should be in a few chapters (depending on their length, and whether or not I choose to do an epilogue)._

_Remember-A ZATR a day keeps Davey Jones away! (I have seen POTC: DMC, and it is totally awesome!)_


	13. Chapter 12

Tak watched the planets pass by. She and Dib had been flying around for the past eight hours. It was getting rather dull, except when they passed Explodran, a planet known for the way it randomly exploded in varying areas. Then finally…

"We're here!" Tak exclaimed, relieved to finally have come to Foodcourtia. She turned to Dib, only to find him fast asleep. Truthfully, she expected it, but he was also drooling all over the floor!

Slap!

"Ow! What was that for?" He shot up, rubbing the spot she had hit.

"We've reached Foodcourtia." She explained, preparing the landing gears. "Stay here and don't cause any trouble."

Dib blinked a few times, and said, "I'm coming with you, couldn't you guess?" As Tak looked at him in a confused and disbelieving manner, he continued. "I want to try some alien food! I may never get another chance!"

"What makes you think we're stopping for food?"

"Well, the owner of whatever restaurant Zim's in won't just let us sit around." He explained, and Tak had to admit that was a good point.

Giving in, she sighed. "Fine, but I'm not cleaning up after you if you can't stomach it."

_Later…_

After half a dozen restaurants, and several aspirins later, Dib and Tak finally arrived at Shloogorghs. Dib was insisting upon ordering again.

"You know, you don't have to eat every single kind of alien food that exists." Tak said, raising an eyebrow as he pointed out several things from the menu he wanted (several meaning 'all but anything with mooshminky in it').

"Yes I do! It's for…KNOWLEGDE!" He exclaimed, punching a fist into the air. Tak raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and headed towards the register.

"Welcome to Shloo-" The cashier trailed off, eyes narrowing behind his protective goggles. "Tak!" He hissed.

It took Tak a moment to recognize him. "Zim? Is that you?"

"Of course it is." He growled, "Why are you even here? Did you destroy the Earth and came here to rub it in?"

"No, I came to get you." She said calmly, which shut him up. This was the one thing he was not expecting, not after their last conversation. He opened his mouth, but when nothing came out, he closed it. "That's what I thought." Tak sighed.

"'Scuse me? Could I get a large bag of Friggle-briskets?" Dib asked, nudging Tak aside.

"DIB? Why in the name of Irk are you here?" Zim demanded, partly confused, but mostly enraged at the mere sight of Dib.

"Well, things were getting boring without you to hunt down. Besides, if you had to stay here for the rest of your life, I'd never be able to prove you're an alien." He said, shrugging. The truth was a bit more complicated, though. Simply put, he respected Zim, although he'd never like him. For him to be forced to work like a slave in a fast food restaurant, well…it was embarrassing to watch. The sooner he was back on Earth trying to destroy all mankind, the better.

Wow, there was something Dib never thought he'd think.

Zim narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but perhaps he understood Dib's motives, because he nodded and said, "Very well. Until I am out of this humiliating situation, I will allow you to help me. Now," He turned to Tak. "How are you planning on helping?"

"Well, I was kind of thinking something along the lines of driving the ship in to the building so you could climb on." She said, not really having given much thought to the matter.

"That sounds good! But what about Sizz-Lorr? He'll just chase us the entire way to Earth." Zim asked, though it appeared that the boss was no where to be seen.

Tak looked thoughtful, and said, "Dib and I'll figure something out. In the meantime, don't do anything stupid." She glared along with the last sentence, which for some reason made Zim gulp. There was something a little different about Tak…a little scarier…

Dib interrupted his thoughts, "Did ya get my Friggle-brisket yet?"

_A/N: Yeah, I know that last line was somewhat GIR-like, but I couldn't help myself. Sorry for not posting for a while. I'm a counselor-in-training at a camp, which means that I have to get to sleep earlier. Which means I have no time for writing during the week._

_Is sad, no?_


	14. Chapter 13

"Alright, before we break Zim out, we have to figure out how to make it so Sizz-Lorr can't chase us." Tak said to Dib, who was busy munching away on his Friggle-briskets. They were sitting behind an abandoned snack stand called 'Torgano's'.

"Yeah, okay. Did you know these things taste just like baloney with ketchup?" He asked, before being hit over the head by a very irritated Tak.

"Pay attention!" She growled.

"Fine, if you're going to get all snippy about it…" He muttered, crumpling up the bag containing the brisket and tossing it over his shoulder.

"That's more like it. Now, let's split up. I'll go track Sizz-Lorr, find out if he has a ship or something, you go find out how people get around on this grease pit. Let's meet back here in six hours." Dib nodded, and headed out. Tak wondered for a moment if it was a good idea to let him go on his own.

"Eh, not my problem if he gets into trouble." She shrugged, and walked over to Shloogorghs.

With Dib… 

Everything was so…weird. The buildings, the signs, the travelers passing through, everything! He wanted to see it all, what with this being the first alien planet he had ever been on.

"No, wait! I have to focus on my mission! I can't get distracted!" He said, then noticed a souvenir shop. The allure of the overpriced T-shirts and tiny snow globes containing models of the planet was overpowering…

"Well…she did say that we had six hours…I suppose I can visit this _one_ shop…" And with that, all will was lost. With a grin on his face, he charged off into the store.

_With Tak…_

Tracking Sizz-Lorr was easier than she thought. Especially since he mostly stayed in Shloogorghs the entire time. But four hours later of watching him order Zim around ('_That should be **me **doing that, _she thought.), he finally left.

Sighing in relief, she followed him. To her surprise, he didn't have a ship that would be able to follow them. Instead he had a pair of boots that had a mild jet in them, allowing him to jump high, but not strong enough to let him fly. Well, he did have one ship, but it was far too large and lunky to follow her high-speed custom-built. After some investigating, it looked like some sort of cargo ship.

Satisfied with her discoveries, she headed back towards the abandoned 'Torgano's'.

_Later…_

"Dib…what happened?" The Irken was shocked when Dib walked in, wearing a hat, T-shirt, and carrying a bag of stuff. All this had the words 'Foodcourtia' printed on them in magenta block letters.

"I…I don't know." He stammered, looking around him in a dazed manner. "But, I discovered a cab service run here called Snacky Cabs. It's the best place to go for fast travel. And they have great tours."

"How would you know that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"…Brochures?"

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Did you figure out how the ships were powered?" She asked, trying to ignore the blaring logo on his clothes. It was very distracting.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think that they are all connected to the same powering system."

Tak nodded. "That makes sense. Nowadays, that's what most races are doing." The Irkens usually kept their ship power separate, to make it harder to sabotage them, but such inferior races as those that ran Snacky Cabs obviously weren't that intelligent.

"Alright Dib, let's go shut down those cabs." His face lit up at the prospect of getting to walk around some more. Eyeing him suspiciously, she said, "But we're taking the ship."

_A/N: Ha ha, Dib has experienced culture shock! I had very much fun with Dib this chapter (I really don't like him much, but I really like writing him. Kinda the opposite as it is with Gaz. But, I digress. Just a warning, I may not be able to get in another chapter tomorrow, so you'll pretty much have to wait 'till next Friday._

_Sorry! bows apologetically I have camp again this week._


	15. Chapter 14

"WOW! What a thrilling and dangerous adventure that was!" Dib shouted, as he and Tak headed towards her ship to get Zim.

"Eh, it was more trouble than it was worth." She shrugged, "Although the explosion the power generator made was quite delightful."

"Aw, c'mon. You have to admit, those robot death monkeys they sent after us were amazing pieces of technology." He insisted, but Tak just shrugged again.

"Well, now that the Snacky Cabs will be out of order for a few days, we'll be able to get Zim off this hideous, though delicious, place." They reached the ship, and Tak said, "Now, do you have any business to do before we leave? Because we won't be stopping for any breaks on our way back to Earth."

"Nope, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I don't want to hear you complaining that you have to go halfway out."

"No, really, I'm okay."

"Alright…but don't have anything to eat or drink until we get out of here."

"Okee-dokee." Dib grinned, and Tak and him flew towards Shloogorghs.

_Meanwhile…_

Zim kept looking around the building impatiently. When were Tak and the Dib-stink going to get here? This was torture!

Well, that was Sizz-Lorr's intent, but still.

_**CRASH!**_

A giant hole appeared in the wall, debris flying everywhere, dust making it impossible to see what had made it. Still, Zim was sure he knew what it was.

"Finally! What took you so long?" He shouted, jumping towards the shape that appeared as the dust settled.

"What took me so long to what?" A Plookesian asked, sitting in a little escape pod.

"Eh?" Zim stared.

"My ship was going down, and I really wanted some Sizzled Fritz." He said, as a means of explanation. Zim didn't move for a moment, and was paralyzed with shock. He didn't even hear the _second_ crash. Suddenly, he was jerked back by his collar and thrown into a rather small and uncomfortable space.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF- oh, it's you Tak." Zim said, blinking as Tak frowned and pulled the ship out and up.

"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate." She growled, attempting to pull out of the building without damaging her ship anymore. Dib, who was cramped underneath Zim, paid as close attention to her order as Zim did.

A very angry looking Sizz-Lorr ran out of the back room to see what was causing his customers to scream and panic. For a second, he was too stunned to do anything about the large ship in his restaurant's wall.

And that second was all Tak needed.

Maneuvering her way out and up, Tak, Zim, and Dib were on their way back to Earth.

_Meanwhile…_

Sizz-Lorr grimaced as he started to call the Tallest. He hated having to ask them for help, but this time he had no choice. All the Snacky Cabs were out of commission, and he had no other ship to use. The tourists certainly weren't going to let him borrow theirs.

So, all that was left was to ask his leaders for one.

As the transmission picked up, Sizz-Lorr took a deep breath. Why couldn't Tallest Miyuki still be leader? Now _there_ was a good leader. The best he'd ever had the joy of serving under.

"Sizz-Lorr? Hey, it's been a while." Tallest Red said, sounding more dubious than pleased.

"Um, yes. I was just wondering if you had a ship I could use." He asked, mumbling sullenly.

"Huh? Why would you need one of those? Huh? Huh?" Tallest Purple asked, between mouthfuls of curly fries.

"Well, you see, I need it to apprehend an escaped employee." Sizz-Lorr said, really hoping that they wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"Escaped employee? You don't mean…Zim? Didn't he run away over a year ago? Geez, let it go!" Tallest Red groaned.

"But what about his punishment for all the wrong he's done?"

"Don't worry, he's out of our hair. We sent him to the farthest away planet we could for his exile."

Tallest Purple snickered. "He thinks he's on a mission."

The irritated fry-cook said, "I already knew that!"

"Then case closed. Now if you don't mind, we have some very important leader-type things to do." Red was about to click off, when Sizz-Lorr grasped the last straw he had.

"But what about the Irken who helped him escape? The purple-eyed female with the weird clothes?" He demanded, which stopped the two short.

"This Irken…did she have an implant in her head?" Red asked hesitantly.

"I think so, but I didn't get a clear view." Though he didn't show it, Sizz-Lorr was immensely glad to be taken seriously by these two.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of her. We'll send you an employee to replace Zim, maybe a Vortian prisoner. In the meantime, try not to worry about what happened." Red said seriously, and ended the transmission. Sizz-Lorr, though at first disappointed not to get the ship, brightened at the thought of a new employed prisoner. This conversation had gone better than he thought.

_A/N: And so ends the Foodcourtia plotline. Ooooh, a cliffhanger! Betcha didn't think I could do a good one! Well, neither did I. Don't worry, there'll be a lot more explanations in the next chapter._

_Also, I'm going to start a drabble series for GAPR in a few days._

_First one to correctly guess what the 'P' stands for gets a cookie. _

_Two hints: The P is not an OC, and the G stands for Gaz._


	16. Chapter 15

Ending the transmission with Sizz-Lorr, Red turned to Purple.

"It must be Tak. She's the only female with Cranaritis." He said, sounding rather grim, a disturbing change from his normal sarcasm.

"Yeah…she's a Defective, isn't she?"

"She was never officially tried, because she showed a lot of promise during military training. However, there were several reports of her fighting with other trainees. Once she even chewed another female's antennae off. In a way, if Zim ever did anything useful, it was causing the blackout on Devastis that kept Tak from taking the test to become an Irken Elite." Red shook his head grimly.

"We have to do something about her. She's dangerous, and we can't just keep letting her go without a Trial." Purple said, looking very worried.

"I know. We have to prepare one right away." Red said. "Let's head to Judgmentia…"

Later… 

"Remind me again why we didn't wipe the Dib-stink's memory?" Zim grumbled irritably.

"Because I said so." Tak responded, not feeling like arguing right now. He didn't answer back, but it was a very sullen silence.

Tak was feeling somewhat apprehensive. It had been a few days, and Zim had said nothing about her staying with him. He hadn't asked her to help him in the lab at all! It was very unsettling.

Zim was headed back down to the lab.

"You need any help?" Tak called over, but Zim didn't answer except with a brief shake of his head. She sighed and plopped back against the couch. Odd, it was very hard and lumpy…

"SCAREH LADEH! You is crushin' mah head!" An irritatingly high-pitched voice squealed.

"Oh! Sorry GIR. I didn't see you there." Tak apologized, sitting up and pulling GIR out of the couch crack.

GIR gave her a sloppy hug of gratitude. "I LIKE YOU!"

"Gee, thanks GIR. Could you get off me? Please?"

**CRASH!**

"Eh?" Tak said, looking up briefly before being hit over the head with something.

_What the…_ She managed to think before fading into unconsciousness.

_Later…_

"GIR! Where's Tak?" Zim shouted, as he came up from the lab to discover the empty living room. When he heard no response, he tried again. "GIR! Are you here? TAK?"

Nothing.

"Computer! Scan the house for GIR and Tak!"

_**Do I have to?**_

"YES!"

Fine…Scanning… 

Zim waited impatiently for it to be done, and when he heard that neither Tak nor GIR were in the house, he didn't know how he felt.

He certainly wasn't worried about them.

That much he knew.

_A/N: Blegh, I don't care much for this chapter. I'll have much more fun in the next one, with Tak's trial. It'll be fun to make up Tak's past and all of her offences._

_Heh, no one's guessed what the 'P' stands for._

_I'll give you another hint: It's a character from one of Jhonen's comic._


	17. Chapter 16

Tak woke up, and when she found GIR poking her in the head continually, she assumed that they were still at the base. However, as she looked around and saw the enormous crowd of Irkens, she began to have second thoughts.

"Um, could someone explain why I'm here?" She asked the crowd as she stood, but they simply watched her intently.

_**Irken Tak, it is time for you to receive the consequences of your actions. **_

"Hey…this looks an awful like the Spike of Judgement." She said, beginning to feel rather nervous. Mostly it was the three Control Brains, much more complex than the one who sent her to Planet Dirt.

"HIYA PEOPLES! I'm dancin' like a monkey!" GIR screeched, starting to hop from one foot to the other in a mad jig. The crowd murmured to each other uncomfortably.

"Well, I'd like to go now, if you don't mind. The robot is insane, and can't be kept too long from television." But as she moved towards a conveniently labeled exit, a cable from one of the Brains pulled her back.

_**You must stay. We will explain everything when the Almighty Tallest arrives.**_

"The…Tallest?" If she was nervous before, she was terrified now. There was only one reason that they would come to see her. "I'm on Trial, aren't I?"

…_**Maybe…**_

A platform came down from the ceiling, and the crowd burst into cheers.

"Thank you, we are quite amazing, aren't we?" Tallest Red said, waving to the crowd.

"Greetings inferior ones! SHUT UP!" Tallest Purple shouted, and the crowd immediately obeyed.

Tak walked nervously towards the two. "My Tallest, surely there must be some mistake? Of course, you would never do something like that, but perhaps someone shorter who works under you?"

Neither one of them paid attention to her, and Red declared, "Let the Trial begin!"

_**Irken Tak, prepare for REPLAY. All your memories will be known, your life for all to see and know…behold! Your past!**_

Twin cables snaked towards Tak's Pak, connecting, and flashes of her life shown on a large screen above.

_Onscreen:_

"Welcome to life, Irken child. Report for duty." A robotic voice echoed, and a small, purple-eyed smeet looked up at the arm. She says nothing, only blinks and looks confused.

The screen flashes, and the same smeet is sent through a chute, and ends up being plopped into a chair.

"You are two minutes old, smeet. Be prepared to be filled with the whole of the IRKEN KNOWLEDGE!" Still, the smeet says nothing. A machine attaches to her, and she shuts down for a few minutes, the information being sent into her Pak.

"Upload complete! You have been given a name. IDENTIFY YOURSELF." The smeet opens her mouth, trying to comply, but she only closes it and makes a confused sound. There is silence for a moment, and after a bit, the robot pushes her out of the chair. Soon, another smeet drops out of the chute and into the chair. The little female smeet can do nothing, but follows the new smeet when the upload is finished.

The screen flashes again, and this time the smeet appears to be in an Irken-style hospital, with several taller and older Irkens surrounding her.

"It's been a while since there's been one of these." A male with dark green eyes says. "Get the anesthetic." The smeet can do nothing, only lays on a gurney, and drifts into unconsciousness.

When she woke up, she shouted out. "Owie! That hurts!"

"It looks like she's awake, sir." A female with light red eyes (though not quite pink) said to someone behind her.

"Good, you are dismissed." The female walked out of the room. "Hello, little smeet. What's your name?" The male from before said, but not quite kindly.

"Tak, of course! Now lemme out of here! I gots to go to my invader training!" She shouted, leaping out of her cot, and would have gotten away if not for the male grabbing her and putting her back on the cot.

"We'll have none of that. Now, Tak, listen to me. You have a bad genetic disease. You may never be able to become a soldier, or an invader, or an Irken elite." He said, very gravely.

"Dookie! I'm gonna be the bestest invader ever!" She said, a little irritated.

"You don't understand. Your disease keeps you from functioning properly without that cybernetic implant in your head." At that, Tak looked startled and reached up, feeling the cold metal that penetrated her head. "It might be a better idea if you do not go to your military training, and instead go to some training for a less dangerous job. Like a food-service drone."

"NO! I'm gonna be an invader!" She protested, getting angrier.

"You have to understand, you're never going to be as good as the others!"

"You're lying!" Now she was shouting, and her little fists her shaking.

"Stop that, and listen to what I'm saying! You will never be-ARGH!" The smeet-Tak had launched herself at the Irken doctor, and was biting at his antennas. "GET OFF! That hurts!" The doctor flailed around, trying to get her off, but the more he thrashed, the tighter she held on. Suddenly, he slipped, and banged his head on a tray

Tak let go when he fell unconscious, and the nurse re-entered. She tsked at the doctor for being so careless with a smeet in the room, and walked out.

_Off-screen:_

"Oh yeah, I remember that guy! What a creep! If he were here right now, I'd…" She trailed off, noticing the disapproving looks from the Tallest. "…I'd apologize! Yeah, that's what I was going to say…"

They didn't buy it.

This was not going well at all.

Meanwhile… 

Zim, after finally getting sick of all the silence, decided to contact GIR. The transmission went through, and even Zim could not deny the rush of relief he felt (though he gave it a good try).

"GIR! Where are you? Why are you not here making hideous Earth pastries?" He demanded.

"I's at a Trial for da scary lady!" GIR squealed. "She's on a giant TV!"

"A Trial? But why?" Zim asked. "YOU'RE LYING!"

"Nuh uh!" The little robot said happily.

"Well, stay there. I'll come and get you wherever you _really _are. I'll lock onto your transmission's co-ordinates."

"I gots no idea what you is saying!"

"Good. I'll be right there." And with that, Zim ended the transmission. "Computer! Ready the Voot! Also, locate Mimi and Minimoose."

_**They're right behind you.**_

"Eh?" He turned around, and much to his astonishment, Mimi was standing right behind him, with Minimoose floating by her head. "Oh, right. Mimi, you are coming with me to get Tak and GIR. Minimoose, defend the base from all manners of humans. Especially the Dib." Minimoose squeaked in confirmation, whereas Mimi looked somewhat pleased to be included in something for a change.

As he and Mimi got into the Voot Cruiser, Zim began to wonder if what GIR said was true. Was Tak really on Trial? That would mean she was a Defective, and all Defectives should be destroyed… after all, that was the way of the Irkens, and Zim had always been the first one to agree with that. Defectives were dangerous, and might end up ruining the goal of universal conquest.

They were like broken toasters, not something you would mourn for or miss if the were gone.

So then, why was it that Zim suddenly felt so frightened for her?

_A/N: Behold! The origin of Tak! Hee hee, a smeet-Tak must've been very adorable._

_Also, you guys figured it out! GAPR stands for Gaz and Pepito Romance! However, since you needed an extra hint to get it, I get the cookie! BWAHAHA!_


	18. Chapter 17

Tak looked nervously back up at the screen. A new image was forming. Maybe this time, it would be something shown in her favor. After all, she had never done anything as bad as biting that doctor's antennae…right?

_On-screen: _

"What's that thing sticking out of your head?" A little female with dark pink eyes scoffed, looking at a Tak, now in a regular Irken outfit.

"It's a special implant that makes me better than you." Tak answered, annoyed. She hated it when people mentioned it. The trainers all knew what it was, and they way they looked at her with a mixture of pity and shame was bad enough.

But the other students, who did not know what it was, often imagined something much worse.

"If you need one, then you must be really weak! I betcha they won't even let you take the test for the Irken Elite!" The green-eyed girl taunted. Tak's eye began to twitch, and if it had been Zim he would've shut up. Unfortunately, this female wasn't as informed on Tak. "You'll probably end up a food-service drone!"

Her struggle for control was promptly lost, and she threw herself at the female, using the same technique as she had on the doctor several years ago. Only this time, she was slightly bigger than her victim, so instead of holding, the antennae was torn in two.

"AIEEEEEEE!" The female screeched, clamping her hand over the shredded end of her antennae. She started to sob, and collapsed onto her knees. Tak spat out the part she had torn off, and gave the cowering girl a cold glare.

"Let this be a lesson to you."

The pictures on the screen began to flash quicker. A video of Tak punching the lights out of a boy with red eyes who had made fun of her implant, of her biting the leg of a female with elegant, curving antennas who had tripped her, of her tackling a boy who had pushed her lunch out of her hands… 

It went on for several minutes, before stopping and showing a video of Tak, being taken from a Control Brain room. Her sentence was clear- she was to work on Planet Dirt on a janitorial squad until the next test for the Irken Elite, in seventy years.

On the Planet Dirt, it showed Tak building her own ship, using the old frame of a Spittle Runner. She was doing the opposite of what most Irkens believed- if it was broken, throw it away. She was making something new from old and worn down materials.

And it had worked.

_Off-screen:_

Zim was tracking GIR down, and with a mixture of dread and reluctance, he landed on the planet Judgmentia. He could not fool himself now that Tak wasn't on Trial. GIR didn't know how to get here, and even if he did, why would he? And so suddenly?

Now he had to decide what he was going to do. To go into the Spike of Judgement to get Tak out would be to turn his back on everything he used to follow so devotedly. And another thing- why the heck did he care so much? Irkens were above such feelings of caring, especially him. Zim needed no one…didn't he?

Besides, if it was true that Tak was Defective, then to help her escape her sentence would be a crime. True, he had no idea what the punishment was for such a thing, for it had never even been attempted since the Almighty Tallest Red and Purple started ruling.

But his devotion to his Empire was unmatched. For his to commit such a transgression…

NO! He was going to get Tak out. He'd worry about the consequences later, when they mattered, and for now, for reasons he could never explain, what mattered was to help Tak. He would not let her be deactivated, or erased.

And he would never let her be forgotten.

_A/N: I love doing this plot arch. Making up Tak's life from what we don't know is very much fun. And for some reason, I really want to elaborate on the girl she tore the antennae off of. Maybe I'll use her again in a different story…_

_Also, if you don't get the last two paragraphs, they were based off of something Red said in 'The Trial's script._

_Longer chapter tomorrow, I promise!_


	19. The End

The Brains had decided for a lunch break, and afterwards they would conclude the Trial. Tak was picking nervously at her food, not really having the stomach for it. GIR, on the other hand (who had been singing the Doom song during the entire Trial) let loose a squeal of joy and started grabbing everyone's lunch trays. And eating them whole.

Even now, almost certainly minutes away from being deactivated, she couldn't help but find him disturbing and insane.

Tallest Purple, who was sitting at a table with Tallest Red, and other, rather tall, Irkens, was staring at the robot with a look of fascination. He couldn't help but feel proud. This robot was one of the best things he'd ever made.

Meanwhile… 

"Let me in!" Zim yelled at the guard who was blocking the door.

"Hey…you're Zim aren't you?" He asked, looking somewhat astonished.

"Yes. I see you've heard of my _amazing-ness_!"

"You were on Trial here a while ago! Jeez, you should've considered yourself lucky to get away from here before! Why the heck would you come back?"

"…To see the downfall of yet another worthless Defective?" He said, though the words sounded false, even to him. The guard zapped him with the laser/night stick thing that they were all assigned.

"ARGH! Foolish inferior- ARGH!" He got zapped yet again.

And again.

And again.

Finally he backed off, muttering words he had picked up from watching Earth movies. When the guard turned away, he ran around a corner to where Mimi was waiting.

"Did you drill that hole in the wall like I asked you to?" He asked. The plan had been to distract the guard while Mimi made a hole to get into the building. The fact that the guard never left the entrance, and thus wouldn't notice any hole, never crossed Zim's mind. Mimi nodded. "Quick, let's go!"

Back with Tak (hey, a rhyme!)… 

"Say, how about something that, you know, would help save me?" Tak said, grinning in a worried -and somewhat disturbing- way. They had just finished up with her most recent memory of breaking Zim out of Foodcourtia.

_**That won't be necessary. We have reached our ruling.**_

Tak's eyes widened with fear. Tallest Red and Purple snickered behind her. GIR was running around screaming, but that was nothing new.

_**OUR RULING: Irken Tak's I.D. Pak is damaged, and has led to a corrupt data path. She is a Defective!**_

At that, the Irken just collapsed onto her knees. It couldn't be… she was defective? She was going to be de-activated?

_**Irken Tak's data is not allowed into the collective. Her Pak will be removed and erased.**_

"But-but why?" She looked pleadingly at the Tallest. Her entire life had been devoted to serving them… and they were abandoning her now?

"Gee, let me think. It's either because you maimed dozens of some-what innocent Irkens, or because you helped break out a dangerous Defective." Red said, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you!" Purple waved.

The cables attached to Tak's Pak began to remove it, and the data cables that were to erase the information started to attach themselves-

"HA-CHA!" Zim flew down on Mimi to the platform. He snatched the Pak away from the cables before the data could be lost, and handed it back to Tak. "Quick, get it back on! Then get onto Mimi." She stared at him, blinking once, partly confused that he knew where she was, and partly stunned at his suprisingly heroic entrance. But once the moment ended, she quickly complied.

The Tallest couldn't quite believe what was happening. They were frozen in their places, not even able to blink.

"GIR! GET OVER HERE!" The robot looked up from his running and screaming, cyan parts turning bright red.

"Yes master!" He said, flying up to him. Zim grabbed onto GIR's antennae.

"Quick, to the Voot!" Zim shouted, and the two robots flew off and out of that place.

At last, the Tallest were able to do something. Red turned to Purple, and said, in tones of pure hatred…

"Why can't we EVER finish a Trial?"

_Much later…_

Zim sighed, and started a transmission to the Tallest. He had to face the consequences of what he did. Still, he wasn't entirely sure that they'd pick up.

And when they did, he had no idea what to say.

"My Tallest, I-" He started, but Tallest Red held up a hand to silence him.

"Zim, out of all the things you've done wrong in the past, you've never done anything quite like this. You broke into the Spike of Judgement, and freed a condemned Defective. Never before has this occurred."

Purple nodded, and said, "At first, we didn't even know what kind of punishment we should give you, since sending you to Foodcourtia obviously doesn't work."

"But, we finally came up with something suiting what you did."

Zim looked nervously at his leaders. Were they going to have him deactivated?

"Zim, you are hereby stripped of your title of 'Invader'. From now on, you and Tak are banished from Irk, or any Irken-controlled planets." Red finished, though for some reason, there was a weary tone, rather than a serious one. "Never call us again."

They ended the transmission.

As he heard his sentence, Zim wasn't sure whether to feel relieved, or upset. Surely they could have done worse to him than to have simply banished. Still, he was no longer an Invader. What was he to do with the rest of his life?

Meanwhile… 

Tak was sitting in the living room, glancing nervously at the floor (well, really to Zim in the lab below), wondering what was going on. She knew how much of a transgression what he did was, and she still wasn't sure why he did it.

As she was pondering over it, Zim came up from the lab in the trashcan.

"Well? What did they say?" She asked, not entirely sure she wanted to know.

He sat down heavily next to her on the couch. "I'm no longer an Invader. I've been exiled from all Irken-run planets. My amazing Zim-ness will go to waste!" He said, and Tak was comforted to hear the arrogance was still in his voice.

"I'm sorry. All this over little ol' me." She said, with fake innocence. Zim even managed to crack a smirk at that.

They sat in a comfortable silence, until she heard him murmur something.

"Excuse me?" She said, perking her antennae at him.

"I'm not sorry for doing what I did." He said, not looking at her. Tak needed a few minutes to understand what he said. The longer she stayed silent, the more uncomfortable he looked.

But really, what could she say to him? Irkens were not supposed to feel like this. That's what they had their Paks for, to keep their emotions in check. A well-functioning Pak would mean that the Irkens who wore them would be constantly focused on their jobs and training.

And yet here she was, looking at her once most hated enemy, feeling things that caused humans on bad soap operas to kill each other.

Speaking of bad soap operas, the humans on there often did this…thing to each other to show affection. She and Zim had seen enough of them to finally understand what they were doing. It was called a 'kiss'.

Feeling even more nervous then she had at the Trial, she gently tapped Zim on the shoulder. As he turned towards her, she managed to catch his lips with hers.

_So this is love, _she though, as the world around them fell away.

A/N: BWAHAHAHAHA! I end NOW! With the only kiss in the whole series! Because I'm afraid that doing anymore will ruin it. 

_Anyway, I hope you liked one of the very few in-character ZATR fanfics. If you guys want more, go check out Pinky Lillix's fanfics (especially 'Emotion Sickness'. It's got one of the best Tak origins I've ever read). Also, a great Zim crossover is Ice-Song's 'Not a Hero'. I highly recommend both writers._

_I'd like to thank all my loyal readers and reviewers ,Suicidal Rubber Ducky, Raman Noodle, Pinky Lillix, Computer-Slave, All Apologies, rarofdoom, Zombie Zapper101, Invader Corren, Invader Becky, Dark enchanter, toxic-dreamer-2, Ice-Song, Yellowfur, Greendog, Mr. Girl, Confederacy, evildeathbee, and zimaddiction._

_Without you guys, I'd never have stuck with it this far. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it._

_See you again!_


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